(CNN) – Authorities said Friday that law enforcement officers were the school district police chief who decided not to force a gunman to shoot children and teachers in a Wolde elementary school classroom.
Colonel Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Steven McGrath did not name the officer at a news conference Friday, but said it was taken. “Wrong result” Never clashed with the invader before.
The head of the Wolde School district police force is Pedro “Pete” Arredonto.
Pavlo School District Police Chief Pedro “Pete” Arredonto speaks during a news conference on May 24.
“It was decided that this was a prohibited subject matter,” McGrath said of the incident commander’s “thought process” at the time.
At the same time, children in rooms 111 and 112 at Rob Elementary School in Wolverhampton called 911 again for help, he said. They were among the worst shootings at school since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.
“From the privilege of follow-up, where I am now, of course it’s not the right decision,” McGrath said of the supervisor’s call not to confront the shooter. “This is a wrong decision. Time. There is no excuse for that.”
At the urging of reporters, McGrath declined to comment on whether Aradonto was at the scene during the shooting.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that he was seeking a full account of what happened during the shooting at Rob Elementary School in Wolverhampton, but said he had no idea if the school district police chief should be fired.
“As far as his work status is concerned, it’s something out of my control, I do not know,” Abbott said. “Every action of all those officers will be known, identified and explained to the public.”
Since giving two very brief statements to the press on the day of the tragedy, Arredonto has not spoken publicly about the shooting.
CNN tried to contact Arredondo at his home on Friday, but there was no response.
Arrotondo identifies himself as police chief on the Wolde School District website, and introduced himself as such at news conferences on Tuesday, just hours after the shooting at Rob Elementary School.
At news conferences, Aradonto said the shooter was dead, but provided little other information about the massacre, an “active investigation” and did not take questions from those present.
Arredondo has nearly three decades of law enforcement experience and, according to the school district, was recently elected to a seat on Uvalde City Council.
A School District Board of Trustees has approved Aradonto to lead the department by 2020. District Superintendent Hall Harrell at the time wrote in a Facebook post, “The Board is confident in our selection and is inspired by their experience, knowledge and community involvement.
Arrondo Wolde told the Leader-News after his appointment that he was happy to return to work in his hometown and would like to focus on education and training in the police force. “We can never get enough training,” he told the newspaper.
In March, Arredondo posted on Facebook that its department was conducting “armed occupier training” at Wolde High School, which is trying to prepare local law enforcement to respond “under any circumstances.” Flyer of the event he posted said the topics would include priorities for school law enforcement and “stop killing”.
Arredonto previously served as captain with the School District Police Department in Laredo, Texas, and in several roles with the Wolde Police Department.
– CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this report.
